PSA: Do not buy the T-Mobile OnePlus 6T if you want to root OnePlus :: gadget hacks

When OnePlus announced its partnership with T-Mobile and offered the deal the magenta carrier offers, its mouths fall away. But as usual, this deal brings some reservations. Most of this will harm the people who love rooting, something that much of the OnePlus community likes to do.

The 6T is the first OnePlus phone officially supported by US carriers. Although their phones have always worked on the network, for the first time you can purchase and finance the phone directly from a T-Mobile store. To make the deal even more tempting, the already cheap phone is even cheaper. As of November 1, T-Mobile will allow new and existing customers to spend $ 300 on one of 30 different eligible devices. This list includes every OnePlus model ever produced.

Image of Jon Knight / Gadget Hacks

The problem is that it pleases many phones that are officially released via T-Mobile become harder. Rather than allowing the phone to be unlocked with fastboot commands, T-Mobile blocks its version with a token code that you must first request. To make matters worse, you can not get this token unless you pay for the phone, which would be the case after two years if you followed the equipment plan. Without an unlocked bootloader, rooting is probably impossible. However, the variant sold through the OnePlus website will not have the problem and remains the best phone for rooting.

The Problem with T-Mobile's OnePlus 6T Deal

The problem with the T-Mobile version of the OnePlus 6T begins the deal itself. First, T-Mobile only sells the Midnight Black version of the phone. This means that the cheapest OnePlus 6T sold in T-Mobile stores will cost $ 579 compared to the Mirror Black version of $ 549 sold through the OnePlus website.

Then there is the $ 300 for 300 euros. This discount is a credit balance that is distributed over a two-year equipment plan. As of your second billing cycle with the phone, your T-Mobile bill will be $ 11.67 ($ 300 divided by 24 months). For JUMP users to benefit from this discount, you must purchase the phone in full and exchange a legitimate phone. JUMP On Demand customers would have to buy the phone in full and pay the balance. Once the trade-in was received, they could take advantage of the offer.

But what if you wanted to pay off immediately? Well, you will then deal with two problems. The first is to claim the $ 300, you have to wait for the 24 months since the rebate takes the form of a credit note. That is, if you terminate the lease in the first month by paying $ 580, you will lose the account balance.

Okay, what if you had skipped the bills and paid the full price? T-Mobile will let you wait anyway. After chatting with a OnePlus representative while unveiling the phone, we were told that you had to wait another 40 days to request the token. In other words, the phone has to be paid off and 40 days have passed since the purchase before you can get a bootloader unlock code.

Your SIM card must remain active during this time in order to pay for the service provided by T-Mobile. After 40 days, you can request the token, unlock the bootloader and enjoy TWRP, custom ROMs, Magisk and Xposed that your OnePlus 6T users have done with the SIM-unlocked version over a month ago.

And in order to insult the violation, the phone will be T-Mobile Bloatware during the 40 days or two years the phone was not turned. According to XDA member charlie620, this includes T-Mobile apps, a T-Mobile boot animation and T-Mobile sounds. And you lose support for two SIM cards because the T-Mobile variant supports only a single Nano SIM card.

If you want to root and modulate your phone, you'll need to pass on this deal. This situation can not be won. Either you pay for the phone completely, wait 40 days and lose the loan, or you finance your phone and lose its rootedness for two years. If you love the simple rooting power of this phone and want to enjoy full control over the phone, put the T-Mobile variants in your hands.